Whether satisfaction or dissatisfaction is experienced is a function of the type of comparisons against which the outcome is evaluated. Something appears good because it seems better than something else. This study examined the consequences of downward comparisons, or worse-world counterfactuals involving evaluations of both the victim and assailant in the context of a rape scenario. Male and female subjects (N=106) were randomly assigned to one of four conditions. They simulated these outcomes: worse for the victim because of her own actions; worse for the victim because of the assailant's actions; worse for the assailant because of his own actions; or worse for the assailant because of the victim's actions. After reading identical event information, subjects who imagined how a victim might have made the outcome worse for her assailant increased the blame assigned to her. This is in comparison to scenarios in which subjects imagined how the assailant's own actions might have made the outcome worse for himself. The specific function of downward comparisons is hypothesized to be contingent upon the nature of the comparison and its relationship to the actual event consequences. (ABL)